The studies carried out by EC-JRC in the Mediterranean Sea for the years 1999-2004 are briefly introduced. The specific analysis on the Adriatic Sea for the same period demonstrates that this area has been characterized by a relevant number of illegal discharges from ships.
After setting the historical background, the content, the partners and the aim of the project AESOP (AErial and Satellite surveillance of Operational Pollution in the Adriatic Sea) are presented.
Finally, the results of the first phase of the AESOP project are presented. These results seems very encouraging having experienced, for the first time in the Adriatic, a real time detection of oil spills in satellite images and an immediate verification by aircraft or vessels of the Coast Guard. An exploratory activity has been also carried out in collaboration with the University of Ljubljana to use AIS (Automatic Information System) to identify the ships detected in the satellite images.